Blog by Steve Laug

I enjoy working with alternative woods that over the years have been used in pipes. I have worked with pear wood, cherry, walnut, manzanita and mountain laurel. But last evening I finished restoring an old pipe that revealed more than I expected as I worked away the old finish. It became more than speculation that I was not working with briar. It was too light in weight and just felt different. Once the black grime was gone I could see graining that was very different. The pipe is stamped “the Rubywood” that is all. I researched a bit and found that ruby wood is red sandal wood that is very hard and used for fine furniture. I don’t know about that but this is amazing looking wood. It has dark graining that is deep and then swirls that go through the grain as well. There are dark spots of ruby/red colouration that have come out in the refinishing. I turned the tenon and fit a stem for this one. Then restained it with an oxblood stain to highlight the natural reddness of the pipe.

Here are some pictures of the wood with the finish removed.

Here are some pictures of the refinished pipe:

I wondered about toxicity of the wood so I posted it on Smokers Forums to see if anyone knew about this wood. I got this reponse from a friend there:
“I found quite a few pipes (made in China and India) made from Red Sandal Wood. Apparently parts of the tree are used in herbal medicine. Heck, if it gets rid of wrinkles I wouldn’t mind smoking that pipe

Pterocarpus Santalinus Uses : It is an astringent and a cooling agent and is used in several skincare preparations. It is used in the treatment of pimples, acne, wrinkles etc. It us also used internally in chronic bronchitis, gonorrhoea and gleet, chronic cystitis with benzoic and boric acids. Much used as a perfume for different purposes. The wood is used for making fancy articles and is much carved. It has been used in Ayurvedic medicine as an anti-septic, wound healing agent and anti-acne treatment. A paste of the wood is used as a cooling external application for inflammations and headache. A decoction of fruit is used as an astringent tonic in chronic dysentery.”

Thanks for looking.